Originally posted on RBKTR Translations.
Author: The One Who Tells Stories Under the Bridge (天桥底下说书的).
Translated by: Yujuan
Although he was young, Qing Ye was quite competent in his work. After receiving Ji Mo’s order, he immediately mobilized the divine attendants to monitor all water sources in the Shrine. It was also at this moment that Brilliant Moon, drawn by the noises made by Ji Mo, returned to the patio. Seeing that the wisteria he had painstakingly cultivated reduced to shambles in the blink of an eye, he immediately directed his rage at the chief culprit, “What are you up to this time? Have you gone mad? Are you trying to tear down the Shrine?”
While Brilliant Moon had not inherited a single trace of an elf’s dignity and elegance as the Elven King, there was no lack of golden fingers in the other areas, such as his astronomically high musical talent which only required him a month to learn the guqin, as well as his innate affinity with botany – all the flowers and plants he bred were far prettier than anyone else’s.
Ji Mo had a very keen sense of hearing and smell, which was why the places he liked to visit were secluded and beautiful places of lush greenery. This was the reason why, although Brilliant Moon spurned him very much, he did not bear much feelings of ill-will himself. In any case, elves did not know much about cursing others and repeated the same few phrases each time; he treated it as mere wind drifting past his ears.
Now that Ji Mo harbored suspicions against the Rising Sun Priest, he observed Brilliant Moon’s expression and ultimately chose to believe that this person wasn’t smart enough to participate in this assassination. All he did was say blandly, “Brilliant Moon, a Celestial has infiltrated the Shrine, I need your assistance.”
Brilliant Moon was truly unaware of such a thing, and instantly revealed a shocked look when he was informed of this. However, he quickly realized who was speaking to him and protested discontentedly, “Why should I listen to you?”
“If you don’t investigate with me, I’ll frame you for colluding with an outsider to have me assassinated.”
Ji Mo’s methods of dealing with Brilliant Moon had always been crude and simple, yet he couldn’t deny the effectiveness of this method – this Elven King had signed a contract of allegiance with the High Priest when he first transmigrated here, and an elf attached more value to oaths than life or death. At present, he could only submit in the face of such a glaring threat. However, he couldn’t resist from cursing in rage at Ji Mo’s unswervingly cool expression, “Damn Ji Mo, do you have any face[1]?”
“You’ve known me for three years, have you ever seen my face?”
No one apart from the High Priest had ever seen Ji Mo’s face under his mask. With this iron-clad fact laid out in front of him, Brilliant Moon was actually lost for words. At last, he could only nurse his grievances and accept his current plight, “They say the good die early, and the bad die late— I really shouldn’t have come back to see you!”
Watching on as Brilliant Moon joined the search team in a huff, Ji Mo finally retrieved some of his skillful ease at dealing with a Celestial. He clearly had no problems with handling the other Celestials, so why was he unable to keep the upper hand the moment he encountered Ye Mingjun, so much so that his emotions were constantly being influenced by the immortal?
Was it because he was already incomparably familiar with malice, and did not know how to respond the moment he came across someone with good intentions? After all, whenever he interacted with Ye Mingjun, he was always given the misconception that he wouldn’t be refused no matter what he asked of him. This was exactly why he was trying his best to curb himself – he did not want to owe the immortal anything. A favor had always been something that couldn’t be accurately measured, so it was hard to return.
“Morning Star Priest, we have yet to find the assassin’s tracks, should I send someone out to scout?”
Qing Ye had led a team to make a thorough search through all the water sources, so thorough they hadn’t even left the kitchen sinks unchecked. However, they hadn’t been able to find any traces of the assassin all the same. Faced with the boy’s inquiry, Ji Mo thought carefully about the modus operandi of Supreme Assassin God’s protagonist, and instantly understood where they had missed after spotting the waterlogged ground. He immediately said, “Call the Brilliant Moon Priest, we’ll head to the sewers.”
Shui Wuhen would be reborn as long as he made contact with water, becoming all the more brutal and oppressive the more water there was. If he was situated in the ocean, not even the five continents’ rulers might be able to catch him. It was exactly due to this ability that he could leisurely act as an assassin independent to all the forces in the world. Nevertheless, while he was an incomparably pain-in-the-neck assassin to all, Ji Mo knew his weaknesses and methods.
“You are asking me, the Elven King, to enter a sewer?”
When he was summoned to the sewers, and looking at the sewage pouring down in torrents, Brilliant Moon was inwardly repulsed. Yet, Ji Mo had become an expert in forcing him to do his bidding, and so he started earnestly acting out his own villainous role, “I’m quite a petty person. If you don’t help me catch this assassin, I assure you that I’ll spend each day plotting against you in different ways.”
Strictly speaking, Ji Mo had only ever dug a pit for him that one time, and the most he ever did was to snap a few words back at him, causing internal injury for a few moments no matter how harsh Brilliant Moon’s attitude got. And yet, that one time was enough for the Elven King to engrave in his mind for the rest of his life. Thinking of this guy’s degree of craftiness, he finally admitted defeat, “Just you wait, I’ll dig him out to assassinate you!”
For someone as naive as Brilliant Moon to receive a place among the White Robed Priests, it was a testament to how outrageous his cheats were. Being a master at all kinds of spells and a practitioner of both magic and martial arts were just his basic skills – as the Elven King, he possessed his race’s innate skill of relying on any type of vegetation to seek out their targets. Moreover, he had an ‘Eye of Truth’ that rendered you unable to tell lies as long as you kept eye contact with him, as well as those devilish good looks that anyone, regardless of man or woman, would become obsessed with, such that they were unable to nurse any sort of ill-will towards his appearance.
Taking absolutely no account of any sort of logic, giving any and every sort of golden finger to the protagonist was the style of any classic feel-good novel. In terms of his extent of cheats, Ji Mo had never seen another Celestial that could surpass him. It was fortunate that Brilliant Moon had the flaw of being brainless and easy to fool, else Ji Mo would’ve spat out a mouthful of blood at the conclusion of the plot-driven protagonists they had nearly gone bald to create getting bulldozed by a mindless feel-good protagonist ten years ago.
Apart from the blind, there was no one in this world who could resist the Elven King’s alluring looks. Even the gods would have to lower their noble heads under the gaze of his charming eyes. —Excerpt from Rebirth of the Elven King
As a result, Ji Mo naturally became Brilliant Moon’s one and only nemesis, because he was truly blind.
Recalling Brilliant Moon’s origins left a bad taste in Ji Mo’s mouth, as if he was going through his own black history. Just how bad were his tastes, ten years ago, to have regarded such an illogical and outrageously immature piece of writing as a godly work? He had even mentioned it to every forum post asking for recommendations he chanced upon, his past was really unbearable to recall.
Just as he was lamenting his previously young and naive self, the extremely slighted Brilliant Moon had also found his target’s trail by using the aquatic plants. Looking at the newly coagulating water human, Ji Mo tread quietly, approaching in the darkness, and successfully caused the next protagonist to tremble at the sight of his friendly smile, “Shui-xiong[2], would you mind having a little chat with me?”
“Big brother, all I did was assassinate you once, I even got killed off by you! Is there a need for a White Robed Priest like you to run into the sewers to catch me?”
Shui Wuhen had heard of the Haotian Shrine’s Morning Star Priest being able to predict a Celestial’s abilities, but as he had his race’s special abilities, no one had been able to track him down in the past, so he couldn’t help but be a little skeptical. Now that even his revival point had been seen through, he finally understood why his employer had repeatedly warned him to be cautious.
However, it was too late to repent, and just as he was about to concede defeat, lowering the other’s guard so he could quickly bite his tongue and return to a gaseous state, he heard that masked man utter softly, “Brilliant Moon, restrain him, don’t let him commit suicide.”
What the hell? He could even predict his ultimate move of escaping by taking his own life, it was no wonder his employer would use his entire life possessions on the Morning Star Priest’s head, this guy knew too much!
Just as Shui Wuhen was caught by surprise, Brilliant Moon used the simplest method to stop him from biting his tongue, which was to place his face in his line of light and stare at him with his Eye of Truth, “Which poor fellow sent you to kill this heartless thing?”
“A merchant from the Godly Continent, Reverie, employed me with his entire wealth to assassinate the Morning Star Priest and a divine attendant named Qing Ye.”
Brilliant Moon’s golden finger, dubbed by Ji Mo as the strongest cheat was, as expected, crude and simple. With one look Shui Wuhen entered a state of enchantment, and the truth instantly spilled out of his mouth. When he came to his senses and realized what he had said, he immediately trembled in shock,
Where had this enticing monster come from? Why had he blurted out the truth with just one look from him? Were all of the Shrine’s White Robed Priests supposed to be this weird?
This was exactly why Ji Mo had insisted on bringing Brilliant Moon along. The Elven King’s abilities were particularly useful no matter when and where, but it was even more suited for extorting a confession from someone. However, this answer was unexpected, and after contemplating for a moment, he asked, “So you’re saying that Qing Ye is listed as one of the assassination’s targets?”
“I am an assassin, I have my own professional ethics—”
Facing Great Assassin Shui’s resistance, Ji Mo only had two words to say, “Brilliant Moon.”
And so, a certain elf who was now sick of the sewage stench shot a look filled with deep resentment at him, and once again, this assassin was treated to the crushing blow of his cheat, “I was given conscious instruction from my employer that I could fail to assassinate the Morning Star Priest, but the boy has to die an accidental death. It would be best if he died protecting the Morning Star Priest.”
His many years of maintaining professional ethics crumbling in an instant, this was the first time Shui Wuhen was experiencing the feeling of wanting to cry, but having no tears to weep. He could only spurn internally, why was a macho man like him practicing such witchery? This pointy-eared monster was just too immoral!
“Qing Ye, dry him of moisture using cotton, then freeze him in the icehouse, we’ll deal with him after I’ve informed the High Priest.”
When Ji Mo’s words, which was perfectly aimed at his weakness, reached his ears, Great Assassin Shui finally recognized the reality for what it was, and finally felt regret for the first time of his life,
If he was given another chance, he swore he would never take another step into the Haotian Shrine ever again, there was definitely something wrong with the White Robed Priests here!
Elves had always loved cleanliness, and now that everything was settled, Brilliant Moon hurriedly left the stinking sewage, hurriedly took a few breaths of the fragrant vegetation, then glanced coldly at Ji Mo beside him, “The richest individual in the Godly Continent is actually willing to lose his family fortune to have you killed, are you sure you haven’t done anything wicked?”
Qing Ye and the accompanying divine attendants had left to deal with Shui Wuhen, and the two of them the only ones left at present. It was now that Ji Mo finally spoke the truth with a grave expression, “Reverie is the Rising Sun Priest.”
Hearing this, Brilliant Moon was instantly shocked, “That’s not funny, the Rising Sun Priest is so busy each day his feet hardly touches the ground, how could he…”
“Have I ever given inaccurate information on the Celestials?”
It was true that, in the eyes of others, Chang Hui was up to his neck in the Shrine’s affairs. Where would he have the time to act as a rich merchant who traded all around the world? However, Ji Mo knew all too well that this was a protagonist who ruled the world with his numerous sock puppets. Reverie was just one of them. It was fortunate he had kept his guard up against all the Celestials, and had never revealed how much he knew about him, or else he wouldn’t have found his flaw so quickly.
Ji Mo had always been able to make scarily accurate predictions about the Celestials that not even Brilliant Moon would dare to question. It was just that he had spent a long time living in the Shrine, and now that one of their reliable associates had turned his coat, he found it momentarily hard to swallow, “This, this really doesn’t make sense, why would he want to kill you? Is it because you don’t do your work? I’m not that hard-working either!”
Oh, and here I was just wondering why he would betray us, thank you for providing me with the best reason.
Holding out a moment of silence for the Shrine who had just lost their one willing ox and was left with two lazybones, Ji Mo wouldn’t truly regard this as the reason for the Rising Sun Priest’s defection. He merely kept his composure, leading Brilliant Moon towards the White Tower, “We can slowly interrogate the reason at a later date, come with me to meet the High Priest at once, our highest priority is to immediately subdue Chang Hui.”
Chang Hui was not an officious person, and the sole reason why he was assisting Su Ge in ruling was that while this High Priest had an exceedingly high prestige within the Godly Continent, he had never taken control of common affairs. Such a situation was best fit for a powerful minister’s leadership. Ji Mo did not know why such a person had deemed toppling his previous work was the right choice, but he knew very well that it couldn’t be something he had decided on a whim.
A defector would not allow the force he was previously part of to develop and grow stronger, and as both Brilliant Moon and Su Ge were not adept at coping with conspiracies, the only one in the Shrine who could possibly detect something wrong was the ever-cautious Ji Mo. This was why, ever since he had sold Ji Mo’s whereabouts to the Demonic Continent, Chang Hui had the intention of uprooting the Shrine.
Ji Mo asked himself, what would he do if he wanted to rid himself of the Shrine? He would firstly choose to eliminate the High Priest, as everyone was gathered here due to their reliance on Su Ge. The moment something happened to the High Priest, his standing as an almighty god would be torn down, and he feared the will of the people might collapse in a blink of an eye.
And right now, Ye Mingjun and Su Ge, the minority of Celestials he had ever received kindness from, were both in the White Tower.
At the thought, Ji Mo immediately hastened his footsteps. However, he was still a step too late. Just when he was about to reach the White Tower, several trills rang out from the skies, and four Four-Eyed Birds[3] wrapped in a raging inferno, their bodies swelling into dreadful spheres, self-destructed one after another without giving them the chance to blink, using their bodies to crash into the pure-white building symbolizing the Shrine’s prestige.
The Four-Eyed Birds were a violent existence which ranked fifth among the Ten Great Demonic Beasts. No one knew why the rare species had suddenly bulked up in numbers, nor how these birds had broken through the Shrine’s heavily guarded protection to approach the White Tower. Yet, this did not preclude the tall and lofty building, which had always been a source of comfort to the people of the Godly Continent, from slowly crumbling amid the blazing flames.
“The Whi… White Tower exploded?”
The sight was just too glaring, even the two White Robed Priests were frozen in place. It was until Brilliant Moon’s disbelieving voice reached Ji Mo’s ears did he manage to retrieve his sensibilities, and he forced himself to calm down,
Su Ge’s regeneration abilities were the greatest under the heavens, and he naturally wouldn’t die in the midst of the demonic beasts’ self-destruction. Provided that the High Priest did not die, the crisis of vanishing faith would be averted. However, with just 4% of his cultivation, would Ye Mingjun survive in such a great fire?
This was Chang Hui’s intention. He wouldn’t allow a Celestial who was friendly to Ji Mo join the Shrine, so he had deliberately drawn Ye Mingjun into this attack.
This immortal who held himself aloof from worldly affairs was now in peril, because he had expressed kindness to him. It was also due to his wish to make him happy that he had reluctantly left for the White Tower.
Instantly analyzing all the circumstances at present, Ji Mo bit tightly onto his lip, and without a care for the blaze that was dying the skies red, drew out all his water-type Divine Scrolls he had stored before rushing into the White Tower.
From what Brilliant Moon could recall, Ji Mo had always been the quickest to run away from danger – for the first time in ever, he saw the Morning Star Priest rush in to save someone on his own accord. While it was unexpected to see the seemingly unfeeling Ji Mo care so much about the High Priest, he still grabbed on to him, “Wait, that’s a demonic beast’s Fire of Life, someone with no cultivation like you can’t go in!”
Yet for once, Ji Mo instantly shook off his hand, giving him a fierce answer in reply, “Let go!”
“Did he just yell at me?”
Staring dumbfoundedly at the Morning Star Priest’s back, Brilliant Moon was entirely disbelieving. In the past, no matter how many times he had snubbed Ji Mo, this guy would always listen with a composed expression. There were times he would even pass him a glass of water to moisten his throat before letting him continue, angering him to the point that his liver ached. Yet, there was actually some emotional turmoil coming from that heartless Ji Mo today?
Wait a minute, he had been willing to forgive and forget, pulling onto the hand of this scoundrel who had sold him out, but he was being yelled at instead?
Finally realizing what had happened, Brilliant Moon immediately summoned rain, chasing after him in a rage, and cursed, “Ji Mo, you traitorous dog! Once I put out the fires, I’ll definitely tear you a new one!”
Su Ge: Oh, the White Tower exploded too.
Ye Mingjun: Does everyone at the Shrine like to set off fireworks?
Su Ge: Youngsters are often flighty and impetuous – they are easily ignited.
Ye Mingjun: You know the way to enter a fiery and passionate phase with a human?
Su Ge: All I know is that you’ll be hit by a face full of scrolls if you don’t emerge soon.
The above is the unhurried conversation between two elderly big shots
TL Notes
[1]
‘Do you have any face?’ – 不要脸 (lit. do not want face) refers to someone acting shamelessly. A free translation would be ‘Do you have any shame?’ but seeing as Ji Mo makes a comment about his face, this has been translated literally.[2]
‘-xiong’ – 兄; suffix for an older male, used for an older brother or close friend.[3]
‘Four-Eyed Birds’ – 重明鳥; birds in Chinese mythology with two pupils in their eyes.
Originally posted on RBKTR Translations.
Author: The One Who Tells Stories Under the Bridge (天桥底下说书的).
Translated by: Yujuan
Although he was young, Qing Ye was quite competent in his work. After receiving Ji Mo’s order, he immediately mobilized the divine attendants to monitor all water sources in the Shrine. It was also at this moment that Brilliant Moon, drawn by the noises made by Ji Mo, returned to the patio. Seeing that the wisteria he had painstakingly cultivated reduced to shambles in the blink of an eye, he immediately directed his rage at the chief culprit, “What are you up to this time? Have you gone mad? Are you trying to tear down the Shrine?”
While Brilliant Moon had not inherited a single trace of an elf’s dignity and elegance as the Elven King, there was no lack of golden fingers in the other areas, such as his astronomically high musical talent which only required him a month to learn the guqin, as well as his innate affinity with botany – all the flowers and plants he bred were far prettier than anyone else’s.
Ji Mo had a very keen sense of hearing and smell, which was why the places he liked to visit were secluded and beautiful places of lush greenery. This was the reason why, although Brilliant Moon spurned him very much, he did not bear much feelings of ill-will himself. In any case, elves did not know much about cursing others and repeated the same few phrases each time; he treated it as mere wind drifting past his ears.
Now that Ji Mo harbored suspicions against the Rising Sun Priest, he observed Brilliant Moon’s expression and ultimately chose to believe that this person wasn’t smart enough to participate in this assassination. All he did was say blandly, “Brilliant Moon, a Celestial has infiltrated the Shrine, I need your assistance.”
Brilliant Moon was truly unaware of such a thing, and instantly revealed a shocked look when he was informed of this. However, he quickly realized who was speaking to him and protested discontentedly, “Why should I listen to you?”
“If you don’t investigate with me, I’ll frame you for colluding with an outsider to have me assassinated.”
Ji Mo’s methods of dealing with Brilliant Moon had always been crude and simple, yet he couldn’t deny the effectiveness of this method – this Elven King had signed a contract of allegiance with the High Priest when he first transmigrated here, and an elf attached more value to oaths than life or death. At present, he could only submit in the face of such a glaring threat. However, he couldn’t resist from cursing in rage at Ji Mo’s unswervingly cool expression, “Damn Ji Mo, do you have any face[1]?”
“You’ve known me for three years, have you ever seen my face?”
No one apart from the High Priest had ever seen Ji Mo’s face under his mask. With this iron-clad fact laid out in front of him, Brilliant Moon was actually lost for words. At last, he could only nurse his grievances and accept his current plight, “They say the good die early, and the bad die late— I really shouldn’t have come back to see you!”
Watching on as Brilliant Moon joined the search team in a huff, Ji Mo finally retrieved some of his skillful ease at dealing with a Celestial. He clearly had no problems with handling the other Celestials, so why was he unable to keep the upper hand the moment he encountered Ye Mingjun, so much so that his emotions were constantly being influenced by the immortal?
Was it because he was already incomparably familiar with malice, and did not know how to respond the moment he came across someone with good intentions? After all, whenever he interacted with Ye Mingjun, he was always given the misconception that he wouldn’t be refused no matter what he asked of him. This was exactly why he was trying his best to curb himself – he did not want to owe the immortal anything. A favor had always been something that couldn’t be accurately measured, so it was hard to return.
“Morning Star Priest, we have yet to find the assassin’s tracks, should I send someone out to scout?”
Qing Ye had led a team to make a thorough search through all the water sources, so thorough they hadn’t even left the kitchen sinks unchecked. However, they hadn’t been able to find any traces of the assassin all the same. Faced with the boy’s inquiry, Ji Mo thought carefully about the modus operandi of Supreme Assassin God’s protagonist, and instantly understood where they had missed after spotting the waterlogged ground. He immediately said, “Call the Brilliant Moon Priest, we’ll head to the sewers.”
Shui Wuhen would be reborn as long as he made contact with water, becoming all the more brutal and oppressive the more water there was. If he was situated in the ocean, not even the five continents’ rulers might be able to catch him. It was exactly due to this ability that he could leisurely act as an assassin independent to all the forces in the world. Nevertheless, while he was an incomparably pain-in-the-neck assassin to all, Ji Mo knew his weaknesses and methods.
“You are asking me, the Elven King, to enter a sewer?”
When he was summoned to the sewers, and looking at the sewage pouring down in torrents, Brilliant Moon was inwardly repulsed. Yet, Ji Mo had become an expert in forcing him to do his bidding, and so he started earnestly acting out his own villainous role, “I’m quite a petty person. If you don’t help me catch this assassin, I assure you that I’ll spend each day plotting against you in different ways.”
Strictly speaking, Ji Mo had only ever dug a pit for him that one time, and the most he ever did was to snap a few words back at him, causing internal injury for a few moments no matter how harsh Brilliant Moon’s attitude got. And yet, that one time was enough for the Elven King to engrave in his mind for the rest of his life. Thinking of this guy’s degree of craftiness, he finally admitted defeat, “Just you wait, I’ll dig him out to assassinate you!”
For someone as naive as Brilliant Moon to receive a place among the White Robed Priests, it was a testament to how outrageous his cheats were. Being a master at all kinds of spells and a practitioner of both magic and martial arts were just his basic skills – as the Elven King, he possessed his race’s innate skill of relying on any type of vegetation to seek out their targets. Moreover, he had an ‘Eye of Truth’ that rendered you unable to tell lies as long as you kept eye contact with him, as well as those devilish good looks that anyone, regardless of man or woman, would become obsessed with, such that they were unable to nurse any sort of ill-will towards his appearance.
Taking absolutely no account of any sort of logic, giving any and every sort of golden finger to the protagonist was the style of any classic feel-good novel. In terms of his extent of cheats, Ji Mo had never seen another Celestial that could surpass him. It was fortunate that Brilliant Moon had the flaw of being brainless and easy to fool, else Ji Mo would’ve spat out a mouthful of blood at the conclusion of the plot-driven protagonists they had nearly gone bald to create getting bulldozed by a mindless feel-good protagonist ten years ago.
Apart from the blind, there was no one in this world who could resist the Elven King’s alluring looks. Even the gods would have to lower their noble heads under the gaze of his charming eyes. —Excerpt from Rebirth of the Elven King
As a result, Ji Mo naturally became Brilliant Moon’s one and only nemesis, because he was truly blind.
Recalling Brilliant Moon’s origins left a bad taste in Ji Mo’s mouth, as if he was going through his own black history. Just how bad were his tastes, ten years ago, to have regarded such an illogical and outrageously immature piece of writing as a godly work? He had even mentioned it to every forum post asking for recommendations he chanced upon, his past was really unbearable to recall.
Just as he was lamenting his previously young and naive self, the extremely slighted Brilliant Moon had also found his target’s trail by using the aquatic plants. Looking at the newly coagulating water human, Ji Mo tread quietly, approaching in the darkness, and successfully caused the next protagonist to tremble at the sight of his friendly smile, “Shui-xiong[2], would you mind having a little chat with me?”
“Big brother, all I did was assassinate you once, I even got killed off by you! Is there a need for a White Robed Priest like you to run into the sewers to catch me?”
Shui Wuhen had heard of the Haotian Shrine’s Morning Star Priest being able to predict a Celestial’s abilities, but as he had his race’s special abilities, no one had been able to track him down in the past, so he couldn’t help but be a little skeptical. Now that even his revival point had been seen through, he finally understood why his employer had repeatedly warned him to be cautious.
However, it was too late to repent, and just as he was about to concede defeat, lowering the other’s guard so he could quickly bite his tongue and return to a gaseous state, he heard that masked man utter softly, “Brilliant Moon, restrain him, don’t let him commit suicide.”
What the hell? He could even predict his ultimate move of escaping by taking his own life, it was no wonder his employer would use his entire life possessions on the Morning Star Priest’s head, this guy knew too much!
Just as Shui Wuhen was caught by surprise, Brilliant Moon used the simplest method to stop him from biting his tongue, which was to place his face in his line of light and stare at him with his Eye of Truth, “Which poor fellow sent you to kill this heartless thing?”
“A merchant from the Godly Continent, Reverie, employed me with his entire wealth to assassinate the Morning Star Priest and a divine attendant named Qing Ye.”
Brilliant Moon’s golden finger, dubbed by Ji Mo as the strongest cheat was, as expected, crude and simple. With one look Shui Wuhen entered a state of enchantment, and the truth instantly spilled out of his mouth. When he came to his senses and realized what he had said, he immediately trembled in shock,
Where had this enticing monster come from? Why had he blurted out the truth with just one look from him? Were all of the Shrine’s White Robed Priests supposed to be this weird?
This was exactly why Ji Mo had insisted on bringing Brilliant Moon along. The Elven King’s abilities were particularly useful no matter when and where, but it was even more suited for extorting a confession from someone. However, this answer was unexpected, and after contemplating for a moment, he asked, “So you’re saying that Qing Ye is listed as one of the assassination’s targets?”
“I am an assassin, I have my own professional ethics—”
Facing Great Assassin Shui’s resistance, Ji Mo only had two words to say, “Brilliant Moon.”
And so, a certain elf who was now sick of the sewage stench shot a look filled with deep resentment at him, and once again, this assassin was treated to the crushing blow of his cheat, “I was given conscious instruction from my employer that I could fail to assassinate the Morning Star Priest, but the boy has to die an accidental death. It would be best if he died protecting the Morning Star Priest.”
His many years of maintaining professional ethics crumbling in an instant, this was the first time Shui Wuhen was experiencing the feeling of wanting to cry, but having no tears to weep. He could only spurn internally, why was a macho man like him practicing such witchery? This pointy-eared monster was just too immoral!
“Qing Ye, dry him of moisture using cotton, then freeze him in the icehouse, we’ll deal with him after I’ve informed the High Priest.”
When Ji Mo’s words, which was perfectly aimed at his weakness, reached his ears, Great Assassin Shui finally recognized the reality for what it was, and finally felt regret for the first time of his life,
If he was given another chance, he swore he would never take another step into the Haotian Shrine ever again, there was definitely something wrong with the White Robed Priests here!
Elves had always loved cleanliness, and now that everything was settled, Brilliant Moon hurriedly left the stinking sewage, hurriedly took a few breaths of the fragrant vegetation, then glanced coldly at Ji Mo beside him, “The richest individual in the Godly Continent is actually willing to lose his family fortune to have you killed, are you sure you haven’t done anything wicked?”
Qing Ye and the accompanying divine attendants had left to deal with Shui Wuhen, and the two of them the only ones left at present. It was now that Ji Mo finally spoke the truth with a grave expression, “Reverie is the Rising Sun Priest.”
Hearing this, Brilliant Moon was instantly shocked, “That’s not funny, the Rising Sun Priest is so busy each day his feet hardly touches the ground, how could he…”
“Have I ever given inaccurate information on the Celestials?”
It was true that, in the eyes of others, Chang Hui was up to his neck in the Shrine’s affairs. Where would he have the time to act as a rich merchant who traded all around the world? However, Ji Mo knew all too well that this was a protagonist who ruled the world with his numerous sock puppets. Reverie was just one of them. It was fortunate he had kept his guard up against all the Celestials, and had never revealed how much he knew about him, or else he wouldn’t have found his flaw so quickly.
Ji Mo had always been able to make scarily accurate predictions about the Celestials that not even Brilliant Moon would dare to question. It was just that he had spent a long time living in the Shrine, and now that one of their reliable associates had turned his coat, he found it momentarily hard to swallow, “This, this really doesn’t make sense, why would he want to kill you? Is it because you don’t do your work? I’m not that hard-working either!”
Oh, and here I was just wondering why he would betray us, thank you for providing me with the best reason.
Holding out a moment of silence for the Shrine who had just lost their one willing ox and was left with two lazybones, Ji Mo wouldn’t truly regard this as the reason for the Rising Sun Priest’s defection. He merely kept his composure, leading Brilliant Moon towards the White Tower, “We can slowly interrogate the reason at a later date, come with me to meet the High Priest at once, our highest priority is to immediately subdue Chang Hui.”
Chang Hui was not an officious person, and the sole reason why he was assisting Su Ge in ruling was that while this High Priest had an exceedingly high prestige within the Godly Continent, he had never taken control of common affairs. Such a situation was best fit for a powerful minister’s leadership. Ji Mo did not know why such a person had deemed toppling his previous work was the right choice, but he knew very well that it couldn’t be something he had decided on a whim.
A defector would not allow the force he was previously part of to develop and grow stronger, and as both Brilliant Moon and Su Ge were not adept at coping with conspiracies, the only one in the Shrine who could possibly detect something wrong was the ever-cautious Ji Mo. This was why, ever since he had sold Ji Mo’s whereabouts to the Demonic Continent, Chang Hui had the intention of uprooting the Shrine.
Ji Mo asked himself, what would he do if he wanted to rid himself of the Shrine? He would firstly choose to eliminate the High Priest, as everyone was gathered here due to their reliance on Su Ge. The moment something happened to the High Priest, his standing as an almighty god would be torn down, and he feared the will of the people might collapse in a blink of an eye.
And right now, Ye Mingjun and Su Ge, the minority of Celestials he had ever received kindness from, were both in the White Tower.
At the thought, Ji Mo immediately hastened his footsteps. However, he was still a step too late. Just when he was about to reach the White Tower, several trills rang out from the skies, and four Four-Eyed Birds[3] wrapped in a raging inferno, their bodies swelling into dreadful spheres, self-destructed one after another without giving them the chance to blink, using their bodies to crash into the pure-white building symbolizing the Shrine’s prestige.
The Four-Eyed Birds were a violent existence which ranked fifth among the Ten Great Demonic Beasts. No one knew why the rare species had suddenly bulked up in numbers, nor how these birds had broken through the Shrine’s heavily guarded protection to approach the White Tower. Yet, this did not preclude the tall and lofty building, which had always been a source of comfort to the people of the Godly Continent, from slowly crumbling amid the blazing flames.
“The Whi… White Tower exploded?”
The sight was just too glaring, even the two White Robed Priests were frozen in place. It was until Brilliant Moon’s disbelieving voice reached Ji Mo’s ears did he manage to retrieve his sensibilities, and he forced himself to calm down,
Su Ge’s regeneration abilities were the greatest under the heavens, and he naturally wouldn’t die in the midst of the demonic beasts’ self-destruction. Provided that the High Priest did not die, the crisis of vanishing faith would be averted. However, with just 4% of his cultivation, would Ye Mingjun survive in such a great fire?
This was Chang Hui’s intention. He wouldn’t allow a Celestial who was friendly to Ji Mo join the Shrine, so he had deliberately drawn Ye Mingjun into this attack.
This immortal who held himself aloof from worldly affairs was now in peril, because he had expressed kindness to him. It was also due to his wish to make him happy that he had reluctantly left for the White Tower.
Instantly analyzing all the circumstances at present, Ji Mo bit tightly onto his lip, and without a care for the blaze that was dying the skies red, drew out all his water-type Divine Scrolls he had stored before rushing into the White Tower.
From what Brilliant Moon could recall, Ji Mo had always been the quickest to run away from danger – for the first time in ever, he saw the Morning Star Priest rush in to save someone on his own accord. While it was unexpected to see the seemingly unfeeling Ji Mo care so much about the High Priest, he still grabbed on to him, “Wait, that’s a demonic beast’s Fire of Life, someone with no cultivation like you can’t go in!”
Yet for once, Ji Mo instantly shook off his hand, giving him a fierce answer in reply, “Let go!”
“Did he just yell at me?”
Staring dumbfoundedly at the Morning Star Priest’s back, Brilliant Moon was entirely disbelieving. In the past, no matter how many times he had snubbed Ji Mo, this guy would always listen with a composed expression. There were times he would even pass him a glass of water to moisten his throat before letting him continue, angering him to the point that his liver ached. Yet, there was actually some emotional turmoil coming from that heartless Ji Mo today?
Wait a minute, he had been willing to forgive and forget, pulling onto the hand of this scoundrel who had sold him out, but he was being yelled at instead?
Finally realizing what had happened, Brilliant Moon immediately summoned rain, chasing after him in a rage, and cursed, “Ji Mo, you traitorous dog! Once I put out the fires, I’ll definitely tear you a new one!”
Su Ge: Oh, the White Tower exploded too.
Ye Mingjun: Does everyone at the Shrine like to set off fireworks?
Su Ge: Youngsters are often flighty and impetuous – they are easily ignited.
Ye Mingjun: You know the way to enter a fiery and passionate phase with a human?
Su Ge: All I know is that you’ll be hit by a face full of scrolls if you don’t emerge soon.
The above is the unhurried conversation between two elderly big shots
TL Notes
[1]
‘Do you have any face?’ – 不要脸 (lit. do not want face) refers to someone acting shamelessly. A free translation would be ‘Do you have any shame?’ but seeing as Ji Mo makes a comment about his face, this has been translated literally.[2]
‘-xiong’ – 兄; suffix for an older male, used for an older brother or close friend.[3]
‘Four-Eyed Birds’ – 重明鳥; birds in Chinese mythology with two pupils in their eyes.